Hello and welcome to Again Again MORE. The podcast where we share our favorite kids books, the language development within their pages, and the tips to make the most of reading them again, again, and more. My name is Wrenna and last night when my toddler asked to be pushed in at the table, her dad reminded her to ask nicely and she replied - "WHY aren't you pushing me in?"
Today’s episode is also a call for your favorite Halloween book recommendations. Halloween has long been a favorite holiday of mine, no surprise for a person who loves a good costume and bite sized chocolate. I also love the weather this time of year - in my home town in central California it used to be cool, crisp, and usually raining. My family and I haven’t lived in a place with weather like that during October for years now and sometimes the only way to reconnect is through a good book. So shout your favorites at me, dear readers, and let’s celebrate together.
The books I am discussing today are two we picked up from a little library here and they’ve warranted their own post because they both surprised me with how much I actually liked them. They are neither one a perfect book and neither one will grace my all time favorite lists, but both have qualities I found redeeming. Libraries are a brilliant community resource, but that doesn’t mean you always get a brilliant book. With young children doing the choosing you can not only come home with a lemon but be forced to read it again, again, and more until the return date. Today I’m recognizing the Little’s choices for what they are and celebrating their highlights.
The first book is a counting book called Two Little Witches: A counting story by Harriet Ziefert and Simms Taback. Counting books are something I generally will not buy - how many books about the numbers 1-10 do you really need? But I will happily check them out from the library and happily hang on to a couple gifts. Generally they lack storylines and intrigue. Besides that, we do most of our counting in action instead of right before bed. However, Two Little Witches does not simply count and the illustrations are not simply representations of that number of objects. It is a book about two trick-or-treaters who are joined one by one by other kids on candy quests. The text is an introduction to addition - “If two little witches meet one small clown, that makes…”
The language around math is so important to the learning of math skills themselves. I personally remember entire lessons devoted to deciphering what a math problem was asking us to do. So this board book introduces children to big concepts like addition in a comfortable way. The illustrations allow you to count the number of people and the text uses repetition to reinforce the fact that not only is “3” the number after “2” but it is the number you get when you add 1+2. The reader must turn the page for the answer, giving you time to count, use your fingers, and throw in the words like “addition” and “plus” before arriving at the next number.
Another math concept this book can help with is called Cardinality. This is the idea that a number represents a set of things and is not just a thing itself. Children start learning numbers in order by rote - its a matter of memorization instead of comprehension. The same with letters of the alphabet - it is just a song for a long time. Around the age of 4 years the concept of cardinality sets in and they can visualize an amount as a number. With this book the set is the trick-or-treaters but the numbers being added are represented with unique costumes. So you’re always adding just one of something to the total but you’re finding the answer by counting many different somethings. There are two witches but only one clown and together there are three trick-or-treaters.
As with any foundational skill, the earlier you expose the Little to it, the better. With this book you can take as little as five minutes to read it et voila - you have set your Little on the path to conquering math.
The second book is a little bit longer, geared for ages 3 and up. The Goblins Did It! By Ann Garrison Greenleaf is a sweet little Halloween story set on Hawthorne street. There are other Halloween stories in this series that we have not read yet but based on this one, I would not hesitate to read them. Two siblings go out to pick their pumpkins in the evening and are spooked by a pair of ghosts. The ghosts feel badly and decorate the porch to make up for the scare. Now my first instinct was to write this book off because the title and the text talk about goblins but the illustrations are undoubtedly of ghosts. To me this is nearly inexcusable. But, as mentioned in previous episodes, parent edits to books are a fact of life. After a short discussion during the first reading we now exchange “ghost” for “goblin” and can move on with the story.
The redeeming factor of this book is the dynamic between the siblings. The text leaves space for your own intonation to color their dynamic. There could be more or less teasing or their responses to each other could hold a nasty or loving undercurrent. But the story doesn’t actually take it there. And when Natalie is the only sibling to return home with a pumpkin, she’s quite happy to let Jordan help her carve it. And although he is upset he doesn’t make it her problem and instead chooses to take some quiet time to himself. The civility between these two young kids is astounding.
This is an opportunity to practice intonation with your Little because this story is very responsive to the changes in your tone. When speaking, the tone of voice is a vital clue to the conversation. Jokes fall flat if the tone isn’t right. Feelings get hurt if the tone isn’t right. When you read these siblings as bickering, the tension level of the story rises and so does the spookiness because it feels more like something bad is about to happen. When you read these siblings as supporting each other it calms down. The same is true with the parents - did they set up a spooky ghost in the pumpkin patch and that’s why they sound so smug and cheerful? Or are they a little freaked out that they let their kids out at night and something scary happened, and that’s why they suggest getting a replacement pumpkin from the grocery store instead of heading back to the patch? It’s up to you!
Those were the books of the week folks - two little treats after a couple recent disappointing picks from the library. I’d love to hear about your favorite Halloween or fall books for all ages. Send in your recommendations on our FaceBook page or tag us in your Instagram post of the Little engrossed in their favorite spooky tale.
If you would like to learn more about the relationship between language development, reading to children, and math I have just the book for you. Thirty Million Words by Dr Dana Suskind. She’s been mentioned here before and this won’t be the last time.
Happy reading!
There are no active links to find The Goblins Did It - try your local library.
Two Little Witches: a counting story
Thirty Million Words